I was born in the seventies...

... and hit my teens during the eighties. It was a time of legwarmers and Fame! Of school dinners you hated and school puddings you loved. Of personal stereos the size of two bricks stuck together, and the weight of them too. And it was the time of pictures of flashy cars on black backgrounds in cheap, plastic frames. Do you remember them?

I never had a picture of a flashy car on a black background in a cheap, plastic frame. But I saw them. And I thought to myself that one day maybe.....

But instead I drive this...

A bright blue, 13 year old, 11 seater minibus. Which doesn't have a working window winder on the drivers side, meaning that you need to use a pair of pliers to open and close the window. And the heater doesn't properly demist the windscreen. And the radio is broken. We did sort out the deafening screeching sound it made when you turned the steering wheel though. And it got through its MOT ok.

I hated it when we first got it. I hated it so much I couldn't sleep. I couldn't believe that a vehicle could be so slow that a milk float could overtake it. It was! But Mike suggested I gave it a week and see how I felt about it.

Now I love the little bus! It's amusing to see the looks we get when it's packed with people, like a little blue tin of sardines with windows. But the best thing is that it works! It gets us around safely and reliably. We didn't get into debt for anything flashier and it does the job it's intended for and it does it well. And another good point is that it has another two seats going spare... at the moment! ;-)

So it's not what I thought I'd have back in the eighties, but life doesn't always turn out the way you think. It turns out better!